FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to electrical connectors. More specifically, the invention relates to an electrical plug connection between a knife-edge contact and the contact end of a conductor, in particular for closing an electrical connection in an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle.
Knife-edge contacts are known in fuse boxes of motor vehicles. The knife-edge contact is sheathed by a plastic bush in such a way that the flexible properties of its contacts are preserved. A plain plug contact is inserted into the plastic bush in the direction of the planes defined by the contacts of the knife-edge contact and is guided by the plastic bush. Because the knife-edge contact must be supported flexibly and because the plug contact has to be threaded in, this type of plug connection is only conditionally suited to rational production.
An easily produced plug connection has become known from German Patent DE 43 44 584 C2. Magnet valves for controlling an automatic transmission for a motor vehicle are accommodated in a control housing. The terminal contacts between the magnet valves and the electric lines leading to an electronic control unit must be capable of meeting stringent demands. A secure electrical connection in oil must be assured, despite the vibrations and temperature changes that occur. To that end, it is provided that the magnet valves each have two hooplike, resilient knife contacts that engage in openings of terminal contacts in a prestressed manner.
The press-fitted contact between the knife contacts and the terminal contacts comes about only if the magnet valves are positioned and fixed exactly. Moreover, the contact forces can lessen with age. Because of the necessity of openings in the terminal contacts, either stamped metal sheets or wire lines provided with additional plugs must be used as the electrical lines. Moreover, the contact region is not fully shielded from the outside, and so only limited protection against short circuits that are caused by metal chips in the transmission oil is achieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,190 to Humphrey discloses an electrical component mounting and connection assembly for a direct connection with a conductor. The contact end of the conductor is oriented vertically to the plane defined by a knife-edge contact. A base part has an insertion opening for introducing the knife-edge contact.